Over 90% of Fortune 500 Companies have a supplier diversity program under which they actively seek to source from women. As sourcing is no longer local or national, this presents an enormous opportunity for women around the world to sell into global supply chains.

United Nations Global Compact members and other corporations with a commitment to sustainable business models and sustainable markets, are increasing the demand for goods and services supplied by high-caliber women-owned businesses.

Learning from the example set by the corporate social responsibility early movers, more global corporations are discovering that integrating women into their value chains makes good business sense. The diversification of the supply base brings new skills, innovation and increases competition. It also strengthens the communities in which supplies are secured.

For governments and civil society, empowering women through trade is a catalyst for achieving gender equality. When women are educated and can earn and control income, a number of good results follow - infant mortality declines, child health and nutrition improve, agricultural productivity rises, population growth slows, economies expand, and cycles of poverty are broken. That is good for women, good for men and good for business.

Business Profile

Kimmaree Thompson
Taskforce Chair,
United Nations Global Compact (2011-2014)
International Federation of Business & Professional Women
Ms Kimmaree Thompson is President of Australia’s longest running Business & Professional Women's Club. BPW Sydney Club was established in July 1939.

Ms Thompson’s BPW International role is part of the International Presidents Office, she has been appointed by the International President to Chair the United Nations Global Compact Taskforce. As Taskforce Chair she is also responsible for overseeing the development and deployment of the BPW International “Voice of Women to Business” training & promotional packages to BPW Federations in 96 countries across 5 continents.

Ms Thompson is involved in the transition of the BPW International Headquarters from New York to Melbourne, Australia. The office headquarters will be operational in Australia during the 2011-2014 triennium. Ms Thompson’s role, as part of the International Presidents Office, includes the design of a simplified reporting tool that will classify BPW International Federation and Club activities within a standardised reporting framework mapped to the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP’s).

Ms Thompson is Founder and Managing Director of SRP Decision Systems. In her professional life Ms Thompson works with multi-national and multi-site business, governments and regulators in the niche consulting stream of critical business systems performance improvement and systems failure analysis. Since 1998 her companies have held exclusive Asia & Pacific distributorship for a proprietary root cause analysis consulting methodology & software.

Prior to founding her consultancy business, Ms Thompson held senior executive positions in the West Australian Government including foreign & domestic debt trading with State Treasury; Director roles at the Ministry of Justice and various executive roles at the State Sports Centre including Board of Management committee roles during the staging of the 6th and bid for the 8th World Swimming Championships, the staging of the Asian Games and the Masters Games.

Ms Thompson has held numerous government & community board positions including Chair of an Industry Training Council.